Improvement in fire-escapes



NITED STA'IES PATENT OFFICE 7 MATHEW HOWIE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ESCAPES.

Specifieation fofining pa.rt of Letters Patent N0. 184,871, dated November 28, 1876; application filed N ovember 4, 1876.

T0 all whom z't mag; concern:

Be it's known that I, MATHEW HOWIE, 0f Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and' State of Pennsylvania have invented a certain new und usefnl Fire-Escape Bedstead; and I d0 hereby decla-re the following t0 be a full, clear, and exa ct description of t-he inventi0n, such as Will enable others skilled in the art t0 whieh it pertains t0 make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part; 0f this specification, in Wbich Figure 1 is a broken perspective of a bedstead having its side rails constructed aceord-. ing to my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective 0f thefire-eseape; and Fig. 3 a detail perspective 0f my invention.

My invention has for its object 1:0 provide a bedstead which can be used es a fire-escape.

The nature 0f' my invention consists, essentially, in so consbructing the side rails 0f a bedste-ad that they-can be withdmwn und couverted into a ladder to serve es a, means 0f fire-escape.

Referring 150 the accompanying drawing, A and B represent, respeetively, t;he head and foot of a bedstead, the szune being of the usual or any suitable construction. G 0 represent the side rails fastened in the posts 01 130 the head and foot of the bedstead b v the T-connections shown ab 0 c, 01 by any other appropriate fastening. Said side rails are each coustructed as follows: I hake two bare, c c, t0

each 0f which I fasten a number of short plates, D D, by means 0f screws d d, which serve as pivots. I also pivot these planes t0 one another near their extremities, as shown ab d Bach plate, also, has its end beveled and. its side cut away 0r ofl'set, forming a V-shoulder, d The effect 0f this construction of seid plates is that they will fo1d snugly and 0ut 0t' the way, es shown in Fig. l, when che rail is in its place in the bedstead, the bare u c ben resoing closely together, one up0n the other; but when seid bars are dmwn apart the beveled ende resl: against the V-shoulders d 4 forming a perfectly stifi wund for the ladder, as shown in Fig. 2, operating. in this respect, like the familiar rule-joint, whieh will close only one way. Therefore, to form a 'ladder it is only necessary to withdraw a side rail fr01n the bedsteadand draw t;he two bare composing seid rail apart nntil the plates D D hzwe straightened oub and formed rounds.

T0 form a long ladder the two side rails shonld be eonnected, end t0 end. 'lhis l accomplish by furnishing the bars c c with clips e e the former of whi ch Das a dovetail tongue, e wbile the latter Das a correspoudingly-grobved ear, e fitting, as shown in Fig. 2, by sliding the tongue laterally into the groove.

T0 facilitate the attachment 0f the ladder L0 a window-sill or other fixburehooks ff, having spring or Clip ends f engaging wit;h the end wund 01 plate D, 1nay be employed.

What I claim as my invenlzion is.

l. A bedstead convertible into a fire-escape, substantially as described, having side rails, which, wl1en detached, form a ladder 01 ladders, as sei; forth.

2. The side rail s 0 of a bedstead, constructed, substantially es described, 0f bars c c aud plates D D pivoted to seid bars and t0 each other, substanti-ally es shown und sei: forth.

3. The pivoted plates D D, having beveled end's and V-shoulders d, substantially as and for the purpose sei: forth.

4. In combinatiou with the side rails G of a bedstead, the elips 6 e having dovetailed tongues and grooves, and forming a connection, substantially as shown and set forth.

5. In combination with tl1e side rail or rails O, converbible into a ladd6r, the clip-hooks f f, substautially as showu and. deseribed.

In testixnony that I claim tl1e foregoing I hzwe hereunto SGI? my band this 25th day of Octz0ber, 1876.

. MATHEW HOWIE. Witnesses: M. DANL. CONNOLLY, CHAS. F. VAN HORN. 

